The Mark of Athena
by purplegiraffe17
Summary: If I was Rick Riordan, this is what I would write as the beginning of the Mark of Athena.  Please review so I'll continue writing!  Disclaimer: i do not own the Heroes of Olympus, Rick Riordan does
1. Chapter 1

Annabeth

Annabeth stood in a gigantic room draped in royal red curtains. She recognized this room for she designed each and every pattern in the room. Over the past year, she had been the head architect of Mount Olympus after the tragedy last year that destroyed it.

A woman, with soft brown curls and gray eyes that made you uncomfortable to stare in to, strode toward Annabeth with elegant steps. Athena, goddess of wisdom gazed deeply at Annabeth with a troubled look on her face.

"Mom," Annabeth whispered.

"Yes, darling." Athena announced, her words radiating power.

"Why are you here? I thought Zeus severed contact of gods and their children."

"Exactly, I have a few minutes before he comes back. Hermes, that trickster, helped me distract him so I could talk to you." Athena admitted. "Listen, this gamble Hera has made, as much as I want to smack her on the head, it may just help bring the Gaea down. You will have a difficult task ahead of you, far more difficult than all of your fellow friends. Hopefully, your wisdom will prevail over your fatal flaw Annabeth."

"Deadly pride," Annabeth muttered.

"Exactly, you must learn to fight it. If not, this will probably mean the end of the Gods, you're that important. I'm counting on you."

"So the great prophecy is finally unwinding? Am I one of the seven?"

"I am afraid so, yes. As to you being one of the seven, that solely depends on you. As I said, you will face a task much more demanding than accompanying the other six on the quest. If you choose to accept it, you may be on a quest by yourself. But, you will have a spot in the seven, Percy will guarantee that."

Annabeth's heart did a little flip-flop from hearing his name.

"So Percy is at the other camp? He's going on the quest?" Annabeth asked excitedly.

"Yes and yes. I thought that would've been clear to you by now. I've always been against you two dating, not just because I resent his father. He may be the reason you will fail on your task. Remember his fatal flaw?"

"He's too loyal to his friends."

"Yes, Kronos played his game to Percy's fatal flaw. If it hadn't been his luck, he would've died long ago. I believe Gaea has learned this and she too will play the game to his flaw. Percy may not be too lucky this time." Athena concluded, Annabeth heard a rumble of thunder in the distance.

"That's probably Zeus, I should get going, and he's sensing I'm contacting you." Athena started to walk away.

"Wait, mom! Percy wouldn't hurt me, I know he wouldn't." Annabeth yelled timidly.

"I agree, he wouldn't hurt you, he loves you too much. But that's what's going to end up hurting the both of you." And with that, Athena dissolved in to smoke and Annabeth woke up to the sound of Leo's megaphone.

"This is your Supreme commander, Leo. Our ship is landing in about five minutes so get ready! Hopefully they received my message and won't blast us out of the sky. Remember how awesome I am, over and out." The sound of his annoying voice echoed around the ship. Annabeth stood up from her cot and even though she's already been on the trireme ship for a few days, she still couldn't help admiring its beauty. It's white, billowing sails signaling truce, the elegantly carved wood, the powerful oars, and all of the other amazing features. Leo worked day and night preparing the ship for the quest and Annabeth had to admit, he did a pretty good job.

Piper walked in to Annabeth's room and smiled at her.

"Don't worry, I already slapped Leo on the head for that message."

Annabeth laughed, she was glad Piper was here, she was different from all the Aphrodite children.

"So are you excited? You're probably going to see Percy again!"

Annabeth thought for a moment about what Athena had said. _If it hadn't been his luck, he would've died long ago. I believe Gaea has learned this and she too will play the game to his flaw. Percy may not be too lucky this time._ And then she remembered Athena saying that Percy loved her. Annabeth unconsciously smiled, she would never let anything come between her and Percy.

"Well, we may be committing suicide just sailing in to the Roman territory, but if it means reuniting with Percy, I would do anything." Annabeth declared.

"He is such a lucky guy to have you, Annabeth."

The boat lurched forward and Annabeth guessed the boat had landed. Since no bombs were arrows were shooting at the boat, they were probably safe. Annabeth's palms were sweating and her stomach began cart wheeling as she and Piper walked out to the deck to find a bunch of Romans in togas and others in armor. The camp was huge compared to Camp Half-Blood but this camp felt more hostile, and she suddenly missed Chiron, Clarisse, and all the others back in New York. She felt a tap to her shoulder as she turned around.

"You and Piper want to come down with me?" Jason inquired. His face sported a tiny grin. "Leo's getting ready to go down and I know the Romans wouldn't appreciate his sense of humor."

Annabeth and Piper nodded and they went to find Leo who had his shirt stuck to the steering wheel of the ship. Judging from his IQ, Annabeth sometimes wondered if he actually built the Argo II. Jason helped him unstuck his shirt and together, the four of them stepped in to the forum.


	2. Chapter 2

Percy

As the warship landed in the forum, Percy heard the annoying screams of Terminus.

"Where is their landing ID? They can't just go in to the forum! I bet that warship has tons of weapons on it! We don't want Julius Caesar to happen again!"

As usual, the Romans ignored him.

Frank and Hazel stood next to him and Percy saw Reyna in front of him retying her purple cape signifying a praetor. Percy had a million thoughts racing through his mind, _I still feel bad about taking Jason's place as praetor. I'm finally going to see Annabeth! Who are the other two on the quest?_ But after spending a few days with Reyna, he learned how to dignify himself no matter how worried he was. The warship looked amazing; it was trireme with beautifully decorated oars. Its shape made it perfectly balanced and the sails were positioned perfectly to follow the wind. As he admired the ship, he almost didn't notice four figures step down from the ship.

The first one that came to view was a blonde haired guy around his age. He radiated a sense of power and when Percy saw Reyna step forward, he knew the guy was definitely Jason. Following Jason was a brunette that looked decently pretty with choppy hair and an orange camp half blood shirt. Then a boy with curly black hair that looked like a Latino elf ran playfully ran in to view. And finally, the person Percy wanted to see first, stepped cautiously in to view. Her blonde hair billowed gracefully with the wind and her magnificent gray eyes searched the Roman camp. Annabeth's eyes fixed on Percy's and sent shivers down Percy's spine. She looked beautiful and Percy wanted to run to her, hug her, and never let go but Percy remembered his duty and walked toward Reyna who was staring in to Jason's sky blue eyes.

"Hi, thanks for not shooting us out of the sky or anything. We're from Camp Half-Blood back in New York and I'm Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus or Vulcan, and supreme commander of the Argo II." The boy called Leo introduced, he sounded like he and the Romans were good buddies who haven't seen each other in a long time.

"I'm Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite or Venus." She didn't look like a daughter of Aphrodite because daughters of Aphrodite usually had layers of make up on and sort of reminded Percy of Silena, the old counselor of the Aphrodite cabin.

"And I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena or Minerva." Percy's heart flip-flopped at the sound of her name.

Then all eyes were on Jason who couldn't take his eyes off Reyna. Piper looked a little troubled and she crossed her elbows as she and everyone else waited for Jason's introduction. After a few long awkward moments, Jason shook his head like he was in a trance and turned to the Romans.

"I'm Jason Grace, son of Zeus, but I'm guessing most of you know me already." Jason said and his gaze turned back to Reyna like he was trying to remember a vital and important detail of his past that he couldn't. Percy knew how that felt. _Wait_, Percy thought, _Grace? Isn't that Thalia's last name? Impossible, _and Percy shook the thought out of his head to speak.

"Welcome, I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon or Neptune, and praetor of the twelfth region."

Hazel spoke up, "I'm Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto."

Then Frank introduced himself, "I'm Frank Zhang, son of Mars."

"And I'm Reyna, daughter of Bellona, and another praetor of the twelfth region." Reyna exclaimed. "Before I tell my troops to spare you or kill you, I would like to hear your side of the story first."


	3. Chapter 3

Jason

Jason's legs felt like jelly as he gazed in to Reyna's dark brown eyes. There was something about her, something he knew Piper wouldn't be too happy about. _Come on Hera, please give me some of my memories back. Please._ Jason thought as he directed his attention to the boy in a toga and a purple cape. _He must be praetor_, _wait, how did I know that?_ The boy introduced himself as Percy Jackson. _Oh, so this is the famous Percy Jackson, _Jason thought. Percy had a goofy smile and his dark hair flew all over the place. But Jason could tell the smile of his had some sadness in it, like he knew he would die anytime soon. Just like Jason. Percy seemed powerful, like he could cause a tsunami any second the same was Jason could cause lightning to erupt from the sky, they were actually a lot alike.

Then, Reyna spoke, her demanding voice just wanted to make him melt. She was amazing and Jason began to see fuzzy images of his past. His battle with Krios, Reyna beside him fighting off the other monsters, her hug when it was all over, all those images started to make sense as Jason just gaped at her.

Jason decided that he should begin telling him, Piper, and Leo's story and so he started with him waking up on the bus. He skipped the parts about him and Piper to be safe. Piper and Leo occasionally added in on parts he missed and pretty soon, they got through Festus the dragon, the Cyclopes, Boreas, Khione, Aeolus, King Midas, the hunters of Artemis, and freeing Hera. When they finished, it left the Roman's quiet for awhile until Percy broke the silence.

"And I thought I had a wild quest."

Then Percy filled him in on his, the chubby boy called Frank's, and the girl with golden eyes' quest. It sounded amazing and he began to gain respect for Percy. He knew how hard it was to fight a giant. When he finished, Reyna spoke up.

"I believe, we can give the Greeks a chance-"

Octavian, _I think,_ shouted while grasping a teddy bear's head with white knuckles, "The omens are horrible, I say we slay them all!"


	4. Chapter 4

Annabeth

Annabeth hated the guy in the back already. _Slay me? _Annabeth thought, _look at your size, all you can slay is probably that teddy bear._ Thankfully, the girl named Reyna had common sense and announced,

"Octavian, I don't care what the omens are. The Greeks deserve a chance and I say in one hour, we meet in the senate building to talk this through. Percy, Frank, and Hazel, you can show them around. Everyone, get back to your regular activities!"

Percy, Frank, and Hazel all nodded and walked toward them. _Does he remember me? He hasn't even regarded my presence since I came. _

"Percy, we'll show them around first, I think you would love some 'private time' with Annabeth." Hazel, the girl with dark hair and golden eyes spoke up.

Frank nodded and laughed, "You know, he got his memories back."

I smiled a little embarrassed and relieved. I saw Percy behind them tense up and Frank and Hazel left with Jason, Reyna, and Piper. Before Piper left, Annabeth saw her turn her head to mouth the words, "Go get him."

Annabeth then turned to face Percy who was an arm's length away from her. His beautiful sea green eyes, his dark and slick hair, he was perfect. Just perfect. Even though he was wearing a ridiculous toga, but Annabeth had to admit, he made it look good. But Annabeth had anger bubbled up inside her.

"PERSEUS JACKSON! YOU DISAPPEAR FOR EIGHT MONTHS, EIGHT MONTHS I SPENT SEARCHING FOR YOU, EIGHT MONTHS OF SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, EIGHT MONTHS OF WORRY, EIGHT MONTHS OF-"

Annabeth was cut off by Percy's kiss. He cradled Annabeth in his arms and the anger inside her slowly evaporated and after a long time, he stopped and whispered in Annabeth's ear, "How's that for an apology?"

Annabeth laughed, flung her arms around Percy's neck and whispered back, "Not enough." And they kissed again, to make up for the eight months. Then Percy took Annabeth's hand and led her toward the camp.

"Come on, there's something I want to show you."

He led her to some sort of a cliff overlooking a city. It resembled the Rome Annabeth had imagined when she learned about it in her textbooks, and it was beautiful. There were glittering white buildings, aqueducts that ran around it, and kids of all ages wandering the streets.

"Wow," Annabeth muttered. "Are those demigod children?"

"Yeah, Annabeth, we may actually live. We could stay together here forever. It's safe." Percy said.

Annabeth smiled to herself, he actually wanted them to spend the rest of their lives together if there was more to spend. She couldn't help it but think how amazing it would be, her and Percy watching their kids fly kites, chase seagulls, and everything normal kids could do.

"You know, when I lost my memory, the only thing I could remember was you. Your voice, your blonde hair, your beautiful gray eyes, you kissing me whenever I did something stupid, I only knew you."

Annabeth hugged him; she hugged him so hard she probably broke a few of his ribs. They stayed locked together for a long time as Annabeth bathed in his warmth. She began respecting Aphrodite more. Annabeth finally understood Romeo and Juliet, Helen and Paris, because at that moment, Annabeth knew that she could die for Percy.


End file.
